


Robin's Home

by Mjazilem



Category: Robin Hood (Traditional), Robin Hood - All Media Types, The New Adventures of Robin Hood (TV 1997)
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, The Birthday Trap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-24 10:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2578634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mjazilem/pseuds/Mjazilem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin returns home to camp after going alone to his Step Mother's Birthday Party. Marian had been concerned about him going and going by himself and rightfully so, he made it home alive but not unscathed. The episode ends before he gets back so I've written a little of what I think could have happened when he did get back. This Fic is general enough that it could be enjoyed even if you haven't seen the episode just imagine that Robin has gone off alone and returned home wounded.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Robin's Home

Robin laughed as Little John ran off perused by a gaggle of girls. His thoughts quickly turned from Little John's plight to Marion, he had missed her and wanted to see her, he wondered where he might find her. 

He looked around the busy camp and decided to head for the stable Marion loved the horses and he often found her brushing and caring for the animals. 

He enthusiastically started off to find her but his excitement was quickly dampened when he took a step towards the stables and was quickly reminded of his injury. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder and stopped him in his tracks. He'd almost forgotten about the arrow wound in his excitement to be home. 

He paused to breathe through the pain and collect himself before taking another step. He tried very hard not to grimace in out in the open. There was no telling who was watching him in that moment. He didn’t want to alert everyone to the fact that he was injured. The camp sometimes became a little too distressed when he was wounded or ill. Being the ‘Great Savior Robin Hood’ had become a full time job and was not always an easy thing. 

He decided to change his plans. Marion would have to wait, he would find Tuck first and go from there. 

Robin was relieved when he found Tuck alone in his hut. He saw that Tuck was praying and he didn’t want to interrupt so he stood quietly in the doorway waiting for a good moment to interject. 

Tuck heard someone at door and cut his prayer short. “How can I be of assistance?” He asked over his shoulder.

“I’m sorry to disturb you…” Robin spoke quietly. 

Tuck recognizing the voice behind him jumped up off his knees to greet his friend warmly. “Robin, you’re back! It’s good to have you home again.” 

“Has there been trouble while I’ve been away?” 

“Only a little,” Tuck admitted with a laugh. “Little John’s brother had an accident but that has been sorted and other than Marion moping in your absence all has been well.”

“I am glad to hear that.” Robin smiled at the thought of Marion missing him, he had missed her too. 

“But how was your trip? Have you seen Marion yet, she’ll be anxious to see you?” 

“And I her, but first it's you I need to see my friend.” Robin stood silhouetted in the doorway Tuck couldn’t see his friend’s expression in the shadows leaving him with little information to glean what the matter could be but he could hear the serious tone in Robin’s voice.

“Well come in and don’t just stand there in the doorway. “ Tuck prompted and Robin entered, the door flap closing behind him. Now in the light from the smoke hole in the roof Tuck’s trained eyes could see that Robin was a bit paler now and a bit more tired looking than when he left. “Did you have a difficult ride? How was your Step Mother? I hope everyone was well.”

Robin nodded tight lipped and then Tuck saw his friend’s expression fall. “Things were a bit more exciting than I expected.” 

Robin pulled the left side of his vest and shirt off of his shoulder revealing a bandage and Tuck could see a bit of blood on it. 

Tuck jumped into action, he knew if Robin had come to him about this then it was no mere scratch. “Come sit down.” He gestured for Robin to sit on the bed. 

Robin sat and started to awkwardly shrug off his vest. “Let me help you.” Tuck offered, with steady hands he removed the vest and shirt from Robin’s right side first and then eased the shirt over his friend’s head and carefully guided both off of his injured shoulder and down his left arm. 

Tuck could now see the bandage was not done by Robin, so someone had taken care of him, which as a medical man he felt was likely a good thing, Lady Tadcaster surely had someone experienced in the medical arts in employ. Now with Robin unclothed from the waist up he could see more blood on the bandage. 

There wasn’t a lot showing through the wrappings but some was fresh and some of the blood dried, which meant Robin had been bleeding for a while and it might make the bandage painful to remove. “What Happened? Did someone ambush you?” 

“It wasn’t about me. They wanted jewelry and money from the guests at the party.” Robin held his arm close to his body as Tuck gathered water, towels and new bandages and brought them to a table by the bedside.

“Just can’t get a day off can you?” Tuck shook his head as he pulled a stool up to where Robin sat. Robin gave a sad lopsided smile and Tuck saw the exhaustion and pain in his friend’s young face. 

Sometimes Tuck forgot how young Robin was, the legend that was building up around the young man and his great deeds was starting to make all of them think of Robin as eternal and infallible when really he was just a young man doing his best to lead his people. 

Tuck unwrapped the long bandage that wound around Robin’s chest and up over his shoulder. Underneath it he found the square of fabric directly over the wound. 

It was thoroughly saturated from edge to edge with blood and dried to Robin’s shoulder. Tuck tried to work it away from the skin as carefully as he could but Robin bit his lip as his wound was pulled painfully. “Hang on I’ll try something.” 

Tuck soaked one of his clothes in the water basin on the table and started to wet the edges of the stuck bandage. 

Robin looked on at Tuck ministrations. “I couldn’t in good conscious let them terrorize good people like that. I had to do something.”

“You did, I agree. I’m just sorry it happened when you were only trying to have a nice visit with your family.” Tuck had soaked one edge of the bandage and had been able to pull up one corner without difficulty. 

“It was good to see them.” Robin’s eyes wondered as he thought about his family and his friends who he’d gotten to see at the party for the first time in a very long time. 

“Why didn’t you stay?” Tuck asked seriously.

“What?” Robin came back from his memories and looked quizzically at Tuck.

“You obviously let someone at Lady Tadcaster’s take care of and bandage this wound and then you got on a horse and rode for a day opening it up again and bleeding all over yourself. Why didn’t you just stay a few more days, rest there and give your wound time to heal up a bit? It must have been a painful ride.” 

“I’ve had worse.”

“I know.” Tuck said truthfully. As Robin’s trusted medic Tuck was the one who looked after Robin, when everyone else saw the strong front Robin put on Tuck knew of the broken ribs, contusions, stitches, and sprains that Robin was hiding behind a charming smile. “Still a couple days would have helped.”

“It would have been dangerous.” 

“How’s that?” Tuck worked on tugging up a little more of the dried on bandage and caused Robin to jump as he tugged a little too hard on a section that was still too stuck to come off. “Sorry, sorry.” Tuck went back to wetting it. “Anyway how would it be dangerous to stay with your family?”

“It could be dangerous for them if word got out I was there.”

“This is true but I’m sure they could have kept it quiet for a few days.” 

“I don’t know, perhaps, anyway I just wanted to be home.” Tuck nodded and finally got the bandage all the way off revealing the laceration in Robin’s shoulder. 

Tuck examined the wound and as he often did took an educated guess at how the wound was made. “Judging from the size, the direction, and the location I would guess you were shot from above.”

“Very good friar you are getting better at guessing all the time. I was shot with a crossbow as I jumped down the well opening in the great hall.” 

“Well, well, wel…” Tuck’s pun fell flat and he moved on. “The wound looks clean but the stitches have been torn.” Now Tuck grimaced Robin really must have had a painful ride. 

“Will you…”

“Of course.” Tuck wiped off his smallest pair of shears and cut the rest of the stitches open. Robin clenched his fists and held his tongue as Tuck pulled the thread from his aggravated skin. 

Once the last one was pulled free Tuck wiped the blood off of Robin's shoulder as gingerly as he could and examined the wound further. “I think there is no way around it I’m going to need to put a couple stitches back in to keep it together so it will heal properly.”

Robin nodded his consent and Tuck gathered the needle and thread to get it done. 

Sitting back down with his things Tuck gave Robin an apologetic smile. Robin was a real champ most of the time but stitches were never fun especially when one was completely conscious, between the deep wound, the ripped skin, and the bruising around it this would be painful. 

“Would you like me to get Marion?” Tuck offered thinking maybe Robin would like someone else there for support. 

“No, I’ll be alright. I'm ready.” Robin gripped the edge of the bed and prepared himself. 

Tuck took a breath, said a prayer and got to work. He worked deftly and had the few stitches sewn in no time. Robin was quiet the whole time Tuck worked. When Tuck looked up from the wound to see how Robin was faring he could tell the younger man was tired and in pain, dark circles had formed under his eyes and there was a sheen of sweat on his face. 

“I’m done.” He announced and patted Robin on the knee, the tension in the younger man's body melted at the touch. “Why don’t you lay back and I’ll get you some water.” 

Robin nodded. The throbbing in his shoulder was causing a pounding in his head and the only thing he really could think of in that moment was laying down. He let the friar guide him back to the pillows on the bed. 

“Here have some of this.” Tuck offered a cup of spring water from the pitcher by the table. Robin drank a little before handing the cup back and sinking into the pillows,   
the long ride and blood loss taking their toll. 

“I’m going to make a poultice to promote healing.” Tuck explained what he was getting ready to do. 

“I’m good Tuck, thank you.” Robin started to swing his legs over the side of the bed. 

“Hey now, just hold your horses. I’m going to make a poultice and put that on for a little while, get you something to eat so you can regain your strength and then re-bandage you and you are going to sit there and be patient or so help me you’ll not get another of my blackberry tarts for a year.” 

Tuck finished his instructions and prepared for a fight from a stubborn young man but to his surprise he turned around to find his patient fast asleep. Tuck chuckled to himself and set about his work. He had the things he needed for the poultice on hand so that wouldn’t take long.

Robin slept soundly while Tuck worked. Once the herbs and honey was mixed Tuck spread it liberally on the cleaned wound and covered it with a fresh cloth. 

“Alright now the next thing needed to aide healing is food, to the cook tent I go.” Tuck declared softly.

Robin had been half awake since Tuck had put the smelly poultice on him. Now as he heard Tuck leave he cracked one eye open and looked around. Seeing he was alone Robin held his shoulder and sat up. He was still tired and sore but he was also ready to see Marion. 

He found his shirt and vest and pulled them on careful to not move his shoulder too much so he didn’t disturb his stitches or the drying poultice. Then he went to find Marion. 

Marion had been doing her chores and daily checks around the camp. She had been trying to keep as busy as possible to keep her mind off Robin and when he might get back. She was hoping it would be anytime now. 

She hated when she wasn’t with Robin. She couldn’t help but worry about him, he always seemed to find trouble or it found him. This time he’d gone totally alone and that meant if he did run into trouble there would be no one to help him and no one to tell them and they’d be left wondering what happened and why he hadn’t come home. 

Marion shook the unnerving thought from her head, those were the kinds of thoughts she was trying to distract herself from. 

She was in the stables now. This was one of her favorite places in camp, there was no roast to burn or baffling children to take care of here. There were just horses and she loved and understood them. She brushed the pretty brown mare she’d nicknamed Chestnut while she hummed to herself. 

“That’s a pretty tune.” She heard someone say behind her and she instantly recognized the voice as the one she’d been waiting for. 

“There you are…” She exclaimed, happy to see him. As usual her urge was to run into his arms and hold him tight but she held back not wanting to seem overly excitable. 

“I was starting to think that you’d gotten lost or had too much fun at the party.” 

He smiled at her playful gibe. He loved Marion's wit and confidence. The sight of her warmed his heart and he wanted to take her in his arms and tell her how much he missed her but he didn’t want her to think he was overly sentimental. “The party was nice but I wanted to get back, lots of things to do here you know.” 

“Of course, you wouldn’t want to shirk your responsibilities for silly frivolity.”

“Never.” He chuckled. 

“I bet your step mother was pleased to see you.” Marion patted Chestnut and moved out of the stall to stand nearer Robin. 

“I may have startled her with my disguise” Robin recalled fondly, it had been a bit childish of him to fool her like he did but it was in good fun. “But she was happy that I came to see her.” 

“That’s wonderful that you were able to visit. Did it hurt...” Marion started to ask. 

“What?” Robin cut her off surprised by her words. Did Marion know about him getting shot? He hadn’t wanted to worry her. Did she already know? How could she? Did 

Tuck tell her? He wouldn’t unless Robin told him to, he was usually very good about that sort of thing.

Marion noticed the color from his face drain slightly. She thought maybe she'd brought up a sore subject, perhaps seeing his family had been upsetting. “I’m sorry, I guess I was just wondering if it hurt when you had to leave. I can't imagine going to see love ones like that and then having to leave so soon.” 

“Oh,” Robin sighed, relieved. “It was difficult” he admitted “but I'm happy be back.” 

“I'm glad you're back too.” Marion took his hand in her's. Her soft hand felt wonderful in his and he relished her closeness. “Come on I want to show you the baskets that we've woven while you were away.” 

“Have you gotten many done?” 

“Yes it's been going well.” Robin moved to follow her but as she'd moved he'd turn his back on Chestnut who now wanted back the attention she'd lost.   
The mare nudged at Robin's shoulder and managed to hit him just right so his whole body tensed and pain exploded from his wound. 

He dropped Marion's hand and clutched his wounded shoulder, his dark eyes screwed shut and he was bent over riding out the pain. 

Marion was alarmed and didn't know what she was seeing. “Robin, whats the matter?” She moved to help him but was unsure where to touch and what to do. 

“I'm fine, I'm fine ole Chestnut doesn't know her own strength.” Robin said as he tried to smile reassuringly.

He straightened up as best he could and flipped his hair back out of his face. He blinked to clear his wet eyes and breathed heavily. 

“Chestnut my foot, I know that look, you're hurt.” Marion confronted him. 

Robin held up his hand to quiet her. “It's true but I'm alright.” 

“You're obviously not alright you need to see Tuck.” Robin gave her an innocent and apologetic look that told her he'd already seen the Friar. 

“You just came from there didn't you and you were planning on not telling me.” She gave him a stern look. 

“I didn't want you to worry.” 

“Because scaring me half to death when I think the poor horse has killed you is a better way for me to find out.” 

At this Robin laughed. “You thought the horse...” the whole idea struck Robin as hilarious. 

“What was I suppose to think? I didn't know what had happened.” 

“Oh my.” The laughing was making Robin's shoulder throb and it seemed to be making him feel light headed. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. 

“You've had Tuck take a look at you. So that's why you stink? One of Tuck's poultices?”

“Yes” Robin moved his shirt over to reveal his bandage. 

“Well that's a good thing, I knew you'd had a long ride so I was trying to ignore the smell but it was starting to make my eyes water.” Marion shook her head he smelled like sweet garlic, it was not pleasant. 

“Oh gosh don't make me laugh anymore, it hurts.” Robin wheezed and took hold of Marion's shoulder to steady himself. 

“Come here and sit down before you fall down.” Marion guided him to a barrel in the corner of the stable and he leaned back against the wall holding his throbbing shoulder. “I bet you snuck out from under Tuck's nose and that he advised you to get to bed.” 

“You'd win that bet and all of Tuck's blackberry tarts I'm not going to get to eat.” Robin chuckled and then groaned, he really needed to stop laughing. 

“Yes you would Marion.” Tuck came into the stable having finally located his patient. “I've been looking all over for you Robin, I've made a tea for you, it should help with pain and healing.” Tuck handed the mug to Robin who eyed it suspiciously. “Come on bottoms up.” 

Robin glared at the cup and took a gulp. After swallowing he opened his mouth to say something and Tuck stopped him “No there's not frogs in it and yes you have to drink it all.” 

Robin smiled slyly. “I was going to say it's better than the last tea you made me.” He drained the mug and handed it back. 

“Come on I think you should head back to your tent.” Marion was at his side and helped him to stand. 

“Will you join me?” Marion held his elbow and the three of them headed back across the camp. 

“You can tell me all about the party and then you're going to rest.”

“And eat something, don't forget to eat something.” Tuck interjected.

“Alright, alright fair enough.”

“We're glad you're home Robin.”

Robin squeezed Marion's hand. “I'm glad too.”  
The End


End file.
